Club looks to administration
Taken from the BBC

16/11/04

Inland RevenueWREXHAM football club has said it is looking to call in administrators, as a way of saving the club.

The League One club has debts of £800,000 in unpaid tax and the Inland Revenue is due to ask the High Court to wind the club up on Wednesday.

Although Wrexham will be deducted 10 points by the Football League, it said the alternative was the club "ceasing to exist".

Ex-chairman Mark Guterman is trying to buy the club from owner Alex Hamilton.

A statement from directors David Bennett and David Griffiths said they would be petitioning the High Court for an administration order "to ensure that every possible avenue can be explored to facilitate the survival of Wrexham FC".

The club said it hoped the petition would be heard in the near future, while efforts would be made to complete a financial rescue package in the meantime.

It said administration was not a solution to its problems "only a mechanism through which a solution can be sought".

If administration goes ahead, Wrexham would become the first club under new Football League rules to face the 10-point penalty - and as the table stands it would leave them second bottom of League One.

The rule was brought in as a deterrent following a succession of clubs calling in administrators, and in effect "starting again."

The club statement said: "If an administration order is made by the court, then there are adverse consequences, the most obvious of which being the deduction of 10 points.

"However, faced with the alternative of the club ceasing to exist, the directors believe that their decision is in the best interests of the club and the continuation of league football in Wrexham."

Administration would give the club more breathing space to find a rescue package.

Lindsay Jones from Wrexham Supporters' Trust said he welcomed the move by the club's two directors.

"'I'm absolutely delighted and it's a big relief. The alternative was liquidation," he said.

"The directors are to be commended for their courage in doing this.

"We don't want to lose 10 points but we're looking at the next 100 years of Wrexham football club," he added.

Club owner Mr Hamilton has already rejected two offers from the supporters' trust to buy it.

A consortium involving two former Wrexham FC chairmen Mark Guterman and Pryce Griffiths, former manager Dixie McNeil and AM John Marek are still waiting to hear whether their offer has been accepted.

Some fans attending Saturday's 4-0 away win at Hayes in the first round of the FA Cup carried a mock coffin to the game fearing it would be Wrexham's last.

Councillor Neil Rogers, leader of Wrexham council, said he would like to see the club continue "as a viable, profitable football club" and is due to attend a meeting with Assembly Sports Minister Alun Pugh on Thursday.

Mr Guterman told BBC Radio Wales prior to Saturday's match his latest offer "hasn't been accepted - or rejected".

The former chairman said his consortium is offering Mr Hamilton "a healthy profit".

He added: "The proof of the pudding is whether he accepts the bid or not.

"We're going to fight to the death to save Wrexham FC, there's always hope, we won't give in."